A liniment is an herbal preparation made by infusing herbs in rubbing or grain alcohol. The liniment is applied to the skin allowing the herbs to penetrate quickly and do things such as relieving sore muscles and increasing circulation.Are herbal supplements right for you? Herbal supplements are becoming more and more popular these days. However, herbal supplements may be risky for certain individuals. Do you really need to clean out or “detox” your colon? Let us take a closer look at herbal supplements and colon cleansing. Then you decide for yourself, along with your doctor, what is right for you.Herbal medicine is a practice that is as old as mankind, and certainly older than agriculture or writing; every human culture on every continent of the Earth has practiced herbal medicine of one form or another. Perhaps best described as “medicinal botany”, herbal medicine involves taking plants, ingesting them, and seeing if some of the elements in the plant have a palliative effect on the symptoms of the ailment.Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy.” 1 These medicines use plant-based materials for the treatment of specific symptoms or diseases with many herbs and herbal formulations having been used for centuries within different cultures e.g. India and China.Herbal medicine is the medicine of the people. It is simple, safe, effective, and free. Our ancestors used – and our neighbors around the world still use – plant medicines for healing and health maintenance. It’s easy. You can do it too, and you don’t need a degree or any special training.Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare and constitutes a key role in the development of modern medicine as we know it today. Back when technology was still unheard of, primitive men utilised the vast flora around them to the fullest extent, observing both plant and animal life and their components, eventually giving birth to herbal medicine. In a study by the World Health Organization on herbal medicine use, about 80% of the world’s populace still rely on herbal medicine to cure certain ailments and about 74% of the drugs we use today contain at least one botanical element. For instance, Chinese Herbal Medicine’s use of ephedrine to cure respiratory conditions still exists in the present time. Ephedrine remains an active ingredient in most of the commercial drugs that are being prescribed to relieve asthma symptoms.It is crucial to consult your doctor before taking any type of herb, as some herbal medicines and herbal alternatives have proven to be harmful. It’s also important to remember that herbal supplements are not drugs and are not classified as such. However, herbal medicines appear to have many advantages over traditional drugs, including a lower occurrence of side effects.Herbal depression medicine is commonly promoted as a viable alternative to pharmaceutical treatment of depression. However, the final verdict on the usefulness of herbal depression medicine needs yet to be made. While the effectiveness of herbal anti depressants has to be analysed on a case-by-case basis it can be said that a general problem with assessing the potential of herbal depression medicine lies in the fact that not much clinical, statistically relevant data exists. Also, there seems to be only limited interest from medical establishment to embark on studies testing the effectiveness of most herbal depression medicine. So what is the evidence that herbal anti depressants are effective depression treatments?
The concept of cleansing the colon is not something very new. In fact if we move back in time, the very first mention of colon cleansing can be traced as far back as the Egyptian civilization. In fact the Egyptians believed that the root of all physical ailments can be traced back to the colon. So, most of the treatment that they practiced was targeted in getting the colon work properly.
It is a truth that we should not dismiss ancient wisdom just like that. In fact, much of what we know today has been handed down to us by our forefathers from generation to generation. But it is equally true that not all of what the ancients said was true. They also made mistakes.
The belief that colon is what decides how our health is was pretty much alive even during the Restoration period in England, much after most traces of the Egyptian civilization had been buried under the sands. We do find mention of colon deciding the mood swings of characters in several of the Restoration drama.
However, modern medicine and its practitioners tend to disagree. As modern science has shown, most diseases cannot be traced back to colon. Yes, the colon is an important organ of our body and it is the place where the wastes from our body get accumulated to be driven out of the system. But in no way can it be a cause for something like a heart ailment.
What modern practitioners of alternative medicine tend to put across is that even if not all physical ailments can be traced to an unclean colon, a significant number of diseases are caused because of an unclean colon. There are also a number of people who report a remarkable improvement in their health after a colon cleansing.
So what can we conclude? Yes, in most people the colon is good enough to clean itself and there is little or no possibility for waste material to get accumulated and the resultant toxins that are being formed to be absorbed by other organs in the body. But it is also a fact that getting your colon cleansed following proper and safe methods would not do any harm to you and instead would help you live more energetic and healthy life. At the end of the day, it is your choice if you will go for a colon cleansing or not.
The human digestive system is a long tract which includes the stomach, intestines, colon and rectum. The stomach digests the food and the waste materials are passed to the colon through intestines. The waste materials are a mix of toxic agents that should be eliminated from the body. Many a times these toxic products adhere to the colon and produce various complications. It is a belief that colon cleansing will remove the toxins from colon and make the abdomen feeling well.
There are number of reasons for general troubles in the digestive system. Some people suffer from constipation and others from gas trouble. It is assumed that the toxic substances in the colon produce constipation, bloating, headache and general fatigue. The present day foods do not contain so many fibers required for cleaning the colon. Therefore colon cleansing by suitable methods is an effective solution to maintain the digestive system properly.
Colon cleansing can be done if no other possible causes are seen during a digestive trouble like flatulence, constipation, impaired digestion and less interest for food. Bad breath and smelling stools show preliminary signs of digestive troubles. Sometimes there will be pain and noise in the stomach.
The most common benefit of colon cleansing is the reduction of abdominal weight. People with protruded belly feel a sign of relief after colon cleansing. Other indications are good bowel movements, free from mental tension and general health. In the long run, risk of such diseases like cancer, arthritis and intestinal pain can be minimized.
Both modern medicine and ayurveda have specific colon cleansing treatment methods. Physical cleaning of colon is done under modern medical practice. In ayurveda it ranges from simple dietary plan to advanced treatments using drugs. As there is no conclusive medical evidence to confirm that colon cleansing is highly effective for various intestinal disorders, it is advisable to seek expert opinion if there are any health problems or when taking any medications.
In the United States, colon cleansing as a dietary procedure was in existence even before 19th century. People believed that colon cleansing would improve the performance of the digestive system because many of the human ailments had a root cause in the digestive system. The advancement in the modern medicine kept all human misconceptions out of mind and hence colon cleansing also received less significance in the later years.Still,because of the present artificial fast food consumption, people are thinking back and colon cleansing is gaining recognition even though no scientific back up is there to support or reject the concept.
It would be better to think about the advantages and disadvantages of colon cleansing because now a day more and more people are choosing various methods of colon cleansing.
There are two methods of cleaning a colon. One is the use of natural herbs or medicines brought from pharmacy. Modern medicine uses colon irrigation. The aim of both methods is to expel the toxic materials out of colon.
The toxic products on the walls of the colon are removed in a typical colon cleansing. There are no research findings to support or reject the concept. Researchers say that the colon walls contain beneficial bacteria which can destroy the toxins on colons. The mucous membranous covering of the colon walls keep the toxins out of our body.
The use natural products do not result in side effects and therefore recommended for colon cleansing. It will only work as a scheduled maintenance of our internal body. The colon cleansing is helpful for people who eat too much because the larger the quantity of food goes inside our stomach the greater is the risk of entering toxins into our body. People with obesity and increased weight are at a greater risk of colon problems and therefore cleaning the colon is a better health maintenance option for them.
Part One Dr. dehaan discusses the reasons why natural medicine has much of offer when contrasted against modern medicine. Visit www.gwswnow.com for more information. Please visit www.gwswnow.com to learn more about how the 5 – Step Get Well, Stay Well Program can change your life.
Many people are looking for a more holistic health approach to meet their health care needs these days, but don’t quite understand what it means or how it will benefit them. More and more consumers are becoming aware that our current health care system is failing us in more ways than one and some kind of action is required, but get frightened or diverted by other’s negative perceptions and skepticism of natural health which is really based on misinformation and lack of understanding.
Most skepticism of alternative health modalities is fueled by the unfortunate fact that modern medicine tries to discredit alternative means of healing because it is much more profitable for them to use surgery and pharmaceuticals, not on any real grounds for concern. The topic of alternative health always brings out the doubting Thomas’s who scream quackery and voodoo. You may hear that they tried a holistic method without any success or that they had some weird side effect or even felt worse.
Here’s a couple important points to keep in mind. Their experience may be true but that does not mean it is true for everyone and there could be other reasons that contributed to their experience. We can very easily find another group of people who had great success and no side effects with the exact same treatment method they used.
This is because not everyone’s body responds to a particular treatment or healing approach in the exact same way. Even though you may share the same health condition with someone else, each of you has a unique body chemistry and genetics and the same disease can have a different process or impact from person to person. Each of these factors influences the results that will be achieved. In addition to that, someone with a liver, lymph system, endocrine system or other organ or system that doesn’t function optimally may have a very different response than someone who has healthier organs and systems.
Just because one treatment approach is ineffective for one person, does not meant it will be ineffective for you or others and that doesn’t mean that “all” holistic health care is ineffective. Results can be completely different from individual to individual. A lot of times it requires some trial and error to find what works best with your biochemistry and specific circumstances.
Additionally, this is true whether we are talking about a holistic health method or traditional pharmaceuticals. Regardless of whether we’re talking about natural remedies or prescription drugs, what is effective for one may not work at all for another, but overall holistic health is much more effective and a lot safer. We can find hundreds of thousands of people who have severe side effects, get worse, develop more serious health conditions or even die from prescription drugs. On the other hand, these events are rare within the field of natural health.
Holistic health or alternative health has actually been around longer than prescription medication or so called “modern” medicine. Plants and herbs have been used successfully to heal by many civilizations for centuries and most pharmaceutical drugs have their roots in herbal medicine. For example, the common and popular aspirin originated from an herb called white willow bark.
However, a crucial fact that many are not aware of is that just because something is natural does not mean it will automatically be free of side effects, complications or risks. Many people doctor themselves before first doing their homework and having a thorough understanding of the method they are using.
Herbs, plants, vitamins, minerals, or any alternative treatment method can be just as potent as a prescription and requires a great deal of education and research to be sure you achieve the desired results. They should be taken or performed as prescribed by a knowledgeable health care provider. For example: some holistic remedies that are effective for depression can have a negative effect on someone with Parkinson’s.
Too much or too little of a particular herb can be ineffective, while too much of a vitamin or mineral can be just as bad as not enough. There can be complications or interactions even within natural substances, as one herb or even treatment modality such as massage or acupuncture may counteract or rev up another treatment approach and vitamins and minerals work in conjunction with one another
Additionally, herbs and other natural substances can interact with prescription medication and reduce it’s effectiveness and vice versa. Its extremely important that you consult with a holistic health care provider and disclose all medications and conditions prior to medicating yourself.
Another important issue that may impact results of a holistic health remedy is the quality of the product or service you use. It’s vital to do your homework in this area as well and only use products and services from reputable companies. The natural health field is not immune to sales hype and scamming. You must be a diligent and informed consumer regardless of what path you follow.
Breaking free from the old way of thinking that conditions us to believe that drugs and surgery are the superior method of treatment can be frightening and difficult. It may seem foreign, threatening or strange at first, but when you get the facts about holistic health, you realize that it makes a lot of sense.
Holistic health offers us an abundance of wholesome, non-toxic, affordable approaches from herbal remedies and nutritional supplements to massage, acupuncture, yoga, detoxification, changes in lifestyle, environment and diet or colon cleaning, chiropractic manipulations, meditation and many more that attempt to not only restore balance and harmony in the body, but to society and the planet as well.
It’s an empowering approach where the patient works with the health care provider as a team and is encouraged to be an active participant in the health care plan, educate themselves about their condition and engage in a variety of self-care techniques and practices.
Unlike modern medicine, which only attempts to suppress symptoms, holistic medicine attempts to correct the health condition by finding the underlying cause. Instead of stuffing everyone in a cookie cutter treatment plan, holistic health care is a whole body/mind approach that is individualized according to each person’s specific needs.
The ultimate goal is to enable each person to reach their highest sense of well-being, function as optimally as possible and live life as fully as possible regardless of the presence or absence of disease.
